(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine which has a significant increase in jet engine thrust and more particularly to an engine having use in a hypersonic vehicle as well as other types of vehicles.
(2) Prior Art
Advanced reusable hypersonic vehicles have a significant number of challenges to overcome in order to achieve their mission objectives. One of the most significant is the ability to meet the vehicle thrust requirements while also achieving aggressive size/weight/volume goals for the propulsion system. The combination of meeting propulsion thrust requirements while meeting severe packaging restrictions has contributed to the failure of earlier hypersonic vehicle designs.
Current advanced hypersonic vehicles are experiencing similar difficulties in meeting thrust requirements while achieving minimum installation impacts. The propulsion system is especially tasked at the transonic pinch point. The transonic pinch is caused by the steep increase in vehicle drag as it transitions from subsonic to supersonic flight. Because the augmented jet engine is already producing its maximum possible thrust, i.e. burning jet fuel with all of the available oxygen in the engine, this drag rise dictates that the engine size increase in order to provide positive vehicle acceleration. This size increase impedes the ability of the aircraft to complete its mission due to the additional size/weight/volume. Thus, there is needed a way to increase engine thrust while holding engine size so that the vehicle could then reach closure (i.e. complete the mission).